Purity

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As Rafael points out, responsible fatherhood, in the meditation I have translated below, does not mean contraception.

If being pure was easy, there wouldn't be
So many anonymous fathers
So many single mothers
So many betrayed husbands
So many cheated wives
So many abandoned children
So many immature engagements
So many wounding affairs
So many casual encounters
Such a cult of eroticsm
Such sexual violence
Such shame of virginity
Such credulity
And such brazenness disguised as love.

It isn't easy to be pure in the absence of Jesus and Mary.
When responsible fatherhood is absent,
When the miracle of motherhood, accepted and wanted, is absent,
Or when love for children is absent,
Somebody ends up being just something for somebody else.
Sexuality without God is a disaster.
Sexuality with God is a Blessing.

Fr P. Zezinho

(When was the last time I heard a sermon on purity? Actually, I can remember: it was 1973, and at the end of the sermon the priest said "John Smith, I want to see you in the sacristy after Mass". He needed a server for a funeral the next day, but we didn't let John Smith forget it.)